Hairpin



Patented May 23, 1933 UNITED STATES HARRY G. BLANCI-IARD, F BUFFALO, NEW YORK HAIRPIN Application filed December 17, 1932. Serial No. 647,763.

This invention relates to hairpins made of resilient material, and which are retained in the hair by a clasping or spring action.

The objects of this invention are to provide an improved hairpin which is so constructed that it will be more securely held in the hair without subjecting the hair to as much pressure or clamping action as pins heretofore made; also to provide a pin of this kind which is constructed to provide ample space between the legs of the pin for the enclosure of the hair without causing the hair to force the legs of the pin apart; also to provide a pin of this kind on which '15 the outer surfaces of the legs are substantially free from projections or outwardly extending corrugations, which projections or corrugations in pressing against the head are apt to cause discomfort; also to provide a pin of this kind which is less visible in the hair than pins heretofore made; also to improve the construction of hairpins of this kind in other respects hereinafter specified.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a pin embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is a face view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a pin of slightly modifiedform.

Hairpins made in accordance with my invention are preferably formed of resilient material preferably having somewhat greater width than thickness, and the 'oross'section of the material may be rectangular half round, half elliptical, or other shape. If desired, the pin may also be made of material of square cross section. The material from which they are made is bent to form a loop A terminating in a pair of legs B and C,'the pin being preferably so bent that a flat face of the material lies on the insides of the legs. These legs are so formed that the major portions of thelength thereof are spaced apart and may, for' example, extend substantially parallel to each other. One or'both of the legs of the pin is provided with oneor more projections extending inwardly or toward the other leg. These pro- 0 jections may be of any suitable ordesired form, and in the construction illustrated in Figs. land 2, they are of curved or substan- I tially semi-circular form. In the particular construction illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, the

leg B is provided with two, of these projections 6 and 7, and the other leg C is provided with a projection 8, the projections being preferably arranged to be substantially equidistant. lengthwise of the pin. In the construction shown in Fig. 3, the hairpin is similar to that shown in Figs. l and 2, o except that the legs are slightly curved to conform approximately to the shape of the head, andprojections 9, 10 and 11 are provided on this pin which are of slightly different form than those shown in Fig.1. 5 In both of the constructions, the projections formed on the legs of the pins are such that the projections form wedge-shaped recesses between the legs of the pin into which hair would be wedged, if the pin tended to move lengthwise out of engagement with the hair.

In constructing the pins, the last projections 7- and 10 are preferably formed at a slight distance from theendsof the pins so that the ends of the pins will be separated. This greatly facilitates the separating of the legs of the hairpin to insert the same into the hair. I 1

The pin described overcomes the objection heretofore commonly found in hairpins in that in hairpins as heretofore made a mass of hair frequently becomes wedged between the portions of the legs of the pin adjacent to the bent portion or loop A, which results in the prying apart of the legs so that the end portions are held out of contact. When this occurs, the spring action of the hair in will tend to cause the hairpin to bed isplaced lengthwise toward its loop by a wedge action, so that pins of'thiskind are. easily I lost out of the hair. In my improved hair- I pin, however, there is provided lengthwise of the pin a space of substantially uniformwidth, in which the hair may belocated and the inwardly extending projections (mas legs will separate the hair into a plurality of strands or groups. Displacement of the pin out of the hair in the direction of the. length of the pin will, consequently, be resisted. by each of these strands of hair, which would 100 become wedged in the wedge-shaped or converging angle formed by a leg of the pin and a projection on'the opposite leg.

My improved hairpin, consequently, provides between the legs of the pin sufiicient space to approximately accommodate the amount of hair passed between the legs of the pin. Consequently, when my hairpin is in place in the hair, the projections of one leg will touch or approximately touch the opposite leg. The hair, therefore, does not cause the legs to be separated to any material extent, and also the pin does not pinch or clamp the hair tightly. The pin, 'how ever, has the important function of separating the strand of hair between its legs into several distinct parts by means of the projections, and these parts are each confined in their respective-openings in the hairpin. To move the pin lengthwise out'of the hair would, consequently, necessitate the changing of the shapes of these several parts of the strands, so that they could pass past the projections-of the legs, This, however, requires considerable'force, and consequently, the pins are retained in the "hair much more firnily than in t he-case ofpins which depend upon a clamping or pressing action of the legs of the ha'irpin'against the hair to hold them in place. and-the =surfaces-of hairpins is very slight, and consequently, pins depending upon such friction are not secu-re'ly held in the' hair, and consequently,*my ha-irpin, which depends not 'up'on the "friction between the hair and the pin, but upon the deformation of strands or pa'rtsof strands of hairto pass through the small clearance between the end of a =proj ection and the innersur'face'of a leg of a hairpin, *is "tenaciously retained in the hair 'because of the difiiculty of deforming such sjtrands, or parts of strands. Furthermore,

by increasing the number of projections on t'he'l'egs of the hairpin, and thus increasing thenumber of parts into which a strand of hair isdivided, a material increase in the holding power of the hairpin results, providing, of course, that the proj ectionsare not so numerous as'to occupy 'a large amount of space-that shouldbe available'for hair. However, 'for practical purposes onlya few proje'c'tions are necessary to retain the hairpinin the hair.

r 1 have found that a 'v'ery'large percentage of "-users' of hairpins ininserting' the pins into 'the hair, =insert between the legs-of the pine quantity of hair of approximately uniform cross sectional area, and that thisamount of hair variesbutslightly with different users. Consequently, I have designed my hairpin in such "a manner that the cross sectional area enclosed between the legs of the hairpinfrom the loop thereof to the outermost projection-or corrugation is just slightly less than the cross "section of the average bunch'or The friction between hair of only slightly separated and will exert only a relatively slight pressure upon the hair, and because of the fact that comparatively few projections or corrugations are used on my pin, the hair will tend to distribute itself evenly along the length of the pin. I have found that byproviding sufficient space or area between the legs of the pin to accommodate most of the hair which is placed between these legs, thus preventing excessive opening or separation of the legs, by z the hair clasped by the pin, a very firm grip- :ping of the pin in 'the hai'r results, while the hairpin exerts only very slight :pressure on the hair.

The hairpins described have the-further advantage that they are'less visible-and more inconspicuous =in the hair because of the :fact that the legs have fewer corrugations-orpro- 'jections, and consequently, the pins dosnot reflect light has many directions;

The proj ections on the legs of 'the :hainpi'n may, of'course, all be arranged on one leg, but it is lpreferable' to arrange these projections alternately, as shown in the drawing, since a better holding of the pin [in 'the hair seems to -'result"from this arr'angeme'nt.

I claim as -myrinvention 1. A'hai'rpinimade;of resilient'material'and having a pair of legs'spaced apart to asubstantially uniform extent by a projection formed 'on a leg and extending toward an 'unbent :portion of the other leg, said projection fforniingra-definiteclosuresfor a space-betw'e'ensaid legs for Y confining :hair *and limiting the pressure 'of the legs'upon-the confined -hair,"the outer surfaces-'ofsaidllegs being'free from outwardly extendin xprojections.

2. A hairpinmade of resilient materialrand havinga pair'of legs 'spacedapartrby prfojections formed at intervals on said legs said projections being spaced apart by straight fportionsof saidlegs to form between them spaces :for confining "hair without exerting substantial :pressureonthe'hainl 8. A hairpin made of'resilient material an'd having a pair of legs spaced apart, :said Il'eg's being provided 'at intervals with inwardly bent :projec'tions, the projections of one leg extending toward the other :leg, to :form between the legs a series of'spaces for confining hair, the outersurfaces ofthe legsbeing free 'fromoutwardly extendinggproj e'ctions.

4. A hairpin having a pair of :legs which are spaceda'part a substantially uniform dis- ?tancethroughoutthe.greatersportion o'f-their length, at :least one: of said-legs having: in- 'wardly extending proj ections arranged at intervals lengthwise of the hairpin, the {portions of said legs between 'said projec'tions being substantially straight and 'exten d'ing into engagement with the other leg, and dividing the space between the legs into a plu-' rality of spaces for confining parts of a strand 7 of hair passed between said legs.

5. A hairpin made of resilient material and having a pair of legs spaced apart, each of said legs having projections extending toward a substantially straight portion of the other leg, said projections alternately extending inwardly from opposite legs of the hair- 6. A hairpin made of resilient material and having a pair of legs, the greater portions of which are spaced apart by projections formed on a leg and extending toward an unbent portion of the other leg, said projections and the legs of the pin enclosing areas which are slightly less than the cross sectional area of a strand of hair to be passed between the legs of the pin, to cause said legs to exert slight pressure against the confined hair.

7 A hairpin including a pair of legs connected by a loop, said pin being provided at intervals lengthwise thereof with projections extending from one leg to the other, each hair.

HARRY G. BLANGHARD.

9. A hairpin having a pair of legs spaced apart a substantially uniform distance throughout their lengths and separated by inwardly projecting corrugations alternately disposed on either leg, such corrugations being connected by an unbent portion of the legs and thus forming large defined areas for the inclusion of the hair.

10. A hairpin having a pair of substantially straight parallel legs separated throughout their entire lengthby inwardly bent projections, said projections being connected by unbent portions of said legs. 11. A hairpin made of resilient material and having a pair of legs provided with projections and spaced apart throughout their 7 entire lengths, except at said projections, said projections on each leg being alternately 

